Middle School - Mount Tamalpais School

The Defining Years of Middle School

Grades 6-8

In today's hurry-up-and-grow-up era, children can lose some of their childhood, and the emotional growth that comes with it. That's why an MTS Middle School education is built on more than rigorous academics alone. Students take on real leadership, mentoring younger students through our Buddy Bear program and setting a different behavioral bar than most 12-year-olds are asked to meet. Class sizes grow to 36 across each grade, giving students a wider social circle, but subject classes stay small – 18 students or fewer, depending on the subject. Students build strong relationships with teachers, learn to advocate and debate ideas, and still have the space and time to enjoy being kids.

A middle school boy celebrating in the classroom

We Keep Kids Young

Growing Up Isn't About Hurrying Up

MTS graduates have a mature innocence and are confident without being cocky. Our small size, close student-teacher relationships, and opportunities for our oldest students to connect meaningfully with our youngest all help students grow up without hurrying up.

MTS girls standing in a row with arms around each other smiling

Uniforms Help

Critique Literature, Not Outfits

An 8th grade student once said to our Head of School, "We love to complain about the uniforms, but we actually really like them." Uniforms let students focus on what matters, and on each other, rather than brand labels. Plus putting on a uniform saves time getting dressed in the morning.

A middle school students works on her laptop in class

Selective Technology

Where Technology is Intentional

Today's middle schoolers are expected to be "on" 24/7. At MTS, technology use is intentional, not ubiquitous. Student phones and watches are never out on campus – if a student has one – they stay powered down in a backpack. If a student needs to call home, they do it through the front office.

Two middle school boys walk across campus laughing and talking

Inclusion and Belonging

Gaining Cultural Competency

At MTS, students build a real understanding of identity, diversity, justice, and action. Through age-appropriate lessons woven across subjects, students explore topics such as race, ethnicity, religion, gender, immigration, ability, human rights, family structures, and socioeconomic status.

Program Highlights

Middle School students knitting as part of an enrichment course

Advisory & Clubs

Middle schoolers start their day in one of two ways. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, each student meets with 11 to 12 classmates and an advisor for small-group discussion, drawing on practices from IFSEL, Developmental Designs, and Project Wayfinder. Advisors are a familiar touchpoint, trusted guide, and lead discussions that build trust and connection, while focusing on the organizational skills necessary for middle school and beyond. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, students pick a mixed-grade club such as ping pong, basketball, chess, volleyball, Mathletes, knitting, board games, or art. Students interested in band choose their ensemble for the year.

Enrichment

On Thursday afternoons, Middle School students take a deeper dive into the arts. Beyond their weekly arts and music classes, this double-block period lets each student choose a focus for the trimester – Dance, Scene Study, Guitar, Vocals, African Drumming, Visual Arts, Photoshop, or Photography, among others. Students showcase their work at our fall and spring recitals. More enrichment happens after school. Taught by a mix of MTS faculty and outside professionals, After the Bell options include Impromptu Public Speaking (building skills for the Margie Burke Speech Tournament), Mathletes, Mountain Biking, Yoga, Beginning Voice, and more.

MTS 8th grader in Yosemite above Half Dome

Outdoor Education

By the time a student finishes Middle School, they've earned real wilderness experience: four days on the ropes course at Westminster Woods in 6th grade, a river-rafting trip on the American River in 7th, and a five-day backcountry expedition into Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy region in 8th – where students tackle real questions about water, climate, and the environment. Away from campus, students test their limits, work as a team, and come back different than when they left.

Learn more about our Outdoor Education Program.

Middle School students performing in the musical, Shrek.

Spring Musical

Every spring, Middle School students can audition for a full musical production. Unlike the 4th and 5th grade play, which is mandatory for everyone, the spring musical is a choice, and one that at least two-thirds of 8th graders opt in for before they finish their time at MTS. The performing arts department coaches students through the full process, professional musicians accompany the singers, and parent volunteers pitch in on costumes, makeup, and set-building, making it a real community effort.

Learn more about Performing Arts at MTS.

Pictured above: Students performing in the Spring Musical, Beauty and the Beast.

Nick Wilsey, Head of Middle School, fist-bumping a student

High School Counseling

Nick Wilsey, Head of Middle School, doesn't just know a student's transcript – he knows what they care about, how they've grown, and where they're headed. We treat the high school process itself as a milestone worth teaching, not just overseeing: students learn to research schools, figure out what actually matters to them, manage their application and essay, and practice real interviews. The process is built into the school day, with MTS administrators serving as practice interviewers. We scaffold all of it to be age-appropriate, helping parents support their kids without taking over, and guiding students in expanding their view while staying grounded in what's realistic. Whether a student is headed to public school, boarding school, or anywhere in between, they carry Nick's relationships with high schools across the Bay Area with them – and the trust those schools have in his read on MTS students.

Learn more about our High School Counseling program.

MTS seeks to nurture and mature the entire person. This is certainly a commitment to an excellent and rigorous education, and a strong commitment to the arts, the physical person, and our emotional lives as well. My kids are not just learning traditional subjects, they are becoming caring and capable people in the world.
– MTS parent in 4th & 8th grade

In This Section